“We’ve heard the concerns expressed by these individuals about having continued access to necessary pain medication, the fear of being stigmatized as an addict, challenges in finding health care professionals willing to work with or even prescribe opioids, and sadly, for some patients, increased thoughts of or actual suicide because crushing pain was resulting in a loss of quality of life,” Gottlieb wrote.

Over a year ago, the FDA created the Opioid Policy Steering Committee with the goal of reducing exposure to opioids, preventing more addictions and developing and cultivating the use of medications to treat opioid addiction. This committee received public input from patients who use opioids to manage their chronic pain.

Now, the FDA is asking for input from chronic pain patients again to learn more about the “impacts of chronic pain, [patient] views on treatment approaches for chronic pain, and the challenges or barriers they face accessing treatments.”

Gottlieb said the FDA wants to “strike the right balance” between making policies that give patients who need opioids the proper accessibility and preventing opioid exposures that lead to new addictions.

Most patients with chronic pain do not develop an addiction. While studies vary on percentages, one study stated that less than 1 percent of those who take opioids long-term develop an addiction. Another study said 8 to 12 percent of people with chronic pain develop an addiction. This study also said that misuse (but not addiction) of opioids among chronic pain patients can be between 21 to 29 percent.

The FDA is considering coming up with a strategy in the next few months to encourage medical professional societies to create evidence-based guidelines on how to prescribe medications for acute medical needs and assess prescribing behavior as well as adding new prescribing information to opioid labels.

Gottlieb wrote:

We believe such guidelines could encourage the use of an appropriate dose and duration of an opioid for some common procedures and promote more rational prescribing, including that patients are not being under prescribed and patients in pain who need opioid analgesics are not caught in the cross hairs. In short, having sound, evidence-based information to inform prescribing can help ensure that patients aren’t over prescribed these drugs; while at the same time also making sure that patients with appropriate needs for short and, in some cases, longer-term use of these medicines are not denied access to necessary treatments.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published guidelines for prescribing opioids for chronic pain in 2016. The guidelines were not well received by patients, who said the guidelines led to less doctors prescribing opioids for their pain.

Gottlieb also said the FDA will be developing guidance documents for the most efficient path for developing drugs that can be used to treat various types of pain. This is an effort to promote more drug innovation for pain.

4 Responses

What is their [CDC, FDA] excuse for denying Benzos, and REAL ADHD meds as-well for those of us with documented Anxiety, ADHD, Chronic pain. AND Sleep Medication ? I fought to recieve a prior auth for the Brand-Name Ambien, Guess What ??? It’s a Placebo !!! I want this garbage tested by a NGO Lab

Nothing but BS. Torture with the benefit of Depopulation, as the secret “globalisation” with their goal to Macro-Micro Nano Manage Their NWO takes place. How Many People Are Aware Of The US-EU Collaboration To Remove ALL Of Our Rights By 2020 ??? They’ve been Covertly Violating Mine For 6 years. I’m Full Of Synthetic Arsenic, and Untreated As A Result Of Their NON-CONSENSUAL, Unethical practices beginning with the Former Administration. They Will create Another “911” crises to distract to take-over-END Social Security, while they continue to Play God, [only God could never be so cruel] They want to take away our freedom of speech as-well. They’ve been, [with help from “utility-Cos” and “Communication” cos since Bush, Obama made it Worse. It’s So Dark & Evil, I Don’t Want To Be Around To endure Anymore HELL & TORTURE than I have already. Remember, This Is A Class decision. They Have Pure, Authentic Honest Medications, without Limits—THEY ARE PRIVATE, we are public slaves, guinie pigs,

Nothing will change until : (1) The DEA is forbidden to go after doctors and physicians are confident they won’t be sued and lose their job and livelihood. And (2) Journalists and mainstream media start exposing the lies being told by various agencies, Dr. Andrew Kolodny (PROP, CDC), and start publishing The 10 Misconceptions and Hard Facts about Opioids found in The European Pain Federation Position Paper On Appropriate Use In Chronic Pain Management, 12/19/16 (Table 1).And (3) Journalists and MSM publish the Cochrane Report which states that less than 1% of pain patients become addicted to opioids because the difference between Addiction and Dependence is:

ADDICTION:. A healthy person taking opioids for reasons other than pain will have empty neurotransmitter receptors that are flooded with Dopamine– the feel-good chemical creating euphoria/addiction.

DEPENDENCE: A person in pain will have reptors overcrowded with pain signals that are neutralized by the Dopamine creating ONLY the sense of effective pain reduction.

Only until we have educated the opiophobia of doctors, nurses, pain patients themselves and the politicians and general public will anything change!

If every CPP would Google The European Position Paper and copy and paste the 10 Misconceptions and Hard Facts, plus the Cochrane Report’s statement and definition of the difference between Addiction/Dependence to every editor of 60 Minutes, all the morning and evening news shows and The Washington Post/New York Times we would move this mountain!

BEFORE such a tremendous reduction of opiate or opioid medication to all pain management patients, , patient focus should have been considered before the experts decided to ( behind closed doors) force all patients to reduce so much in medication that lifelong changes, all bad for millons of patients became “collateral” damage or simple “fallout” in the attempt to slow drug/substance abuse and overdose, the intended goal behind causing so much unnneccessary suffering with pain from patients that have been well documented as to the benefits or negative health issues of using long term opiate medication and also pain management, effective pain management for those with acute pain. Dot/gov is still fighting a war on drugs that will never stop without education to those without sickness or injury and then it STILL will not completely stop but to cause established patients using responsibility in using the medication and to “hold the doctors hand” causing near impossible extra paper work is rediculous. Doctors have been practicing prescribing a tailored dosage to patients in an effective dosage without abuse or diversion because it has been done by millions of patients for decades. It is taking plenty long to correct bad decisions. A “balance” for most chronic patients with the use of opiate medications was found……..long ago.